Clasp for garment-supporters.



No. 890,382. I PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908. J. M. SINER.

CLASP FOR GARMENT SUPPORTERS; APPLICATION FILED my 25, 1907.

anvenl'oz JOHN M. SINER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO VENUSMANUFACTURING 00., OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CLASP FOR GARME LIT-SUPPORTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9; 1908.

Application filed May 25, 1907. Serial No. 375,674.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. SINEE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State ofNew York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Clasps forGarment-Supporters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in clasps for garters and othergarment supporters of that general type comprising a pair of cooperatingspring jaws, and an en gaging lever or member connected with one jaw anddesigned for engagement with the other jaw, the engagement between saidmember and jaw serving to maintain the member in engaging position.

The object of the present invention is to provide a construction bywhich the engaging lever or member is adapted to be more readily grippedfor adjustment to released position.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a frontelevation showing the construction of the device as adapted for use upona garter. Fig. 2 is a similar View of the clasp, showing the lever swungto release position. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the clasp with the leverin looking position. Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3, with the leverin the position shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of thedevice as adapted for use as a garment supporter for connecting a ladysshirtwaist and skirt to prevent relative dis placement thereof. Fig. 6is an edge view of the same.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates a garter composed of elasticmaterial and provided at its ends with engaging members or heads 2 and3, of which the member 2 has an outwardly opening radial slot 4communicating with a central circular opening 5 to receive the shank 6of a headed pin or stud 7, by means of which the clasp or engaging device 8 is pivotally connected with the head 3. YVhen the garter isapplied the shank 6 is en tered through the slot 4 into the opening 5for buckling the garter in position, and the engaging device 8 dependsvertically therefrom, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The clasp or engaging device 8 comprises a supporting plate 9 recessedat its opposite edges to produce projecting tongues 10 for engagementwith the upper portion of a spring member 11 formed from a single lengthof spring wire. bent to provide a primary spring jaw 12 and a secondaryspring jaw 13, said jaws being of approximately equal length, the jaw12, however, being of greater width than the jaw 13 to permit the freeend of the latter to swing therethrough for a purpose hereinafterdescribed. The jaw 12, which is of substantially U-shape, comprisesparallel side arms or portions 14 and an end portion 14 while the jaw13, which is generally of U-form, comprises side arms or portions 15 andan end portion 15', the tongues 10 being folded around the upper ends ofthe side arms of the jaw 12 to connect the spring member 11 at oradjacent the point of juncture of the two jaws to the plate 9, thejoining portions of the wire of said member being seated within the saidrecesses in the supporting plate.

operating member or lever 16, formed from a single length of material,has an engaging portion or end 17, an offset portion or shoulder 18projecting from the relatively inner end of the engaging portion, and ahandle portion 19 projecting from the relatively outer end of theoflfset portion. The engaging portion 17 of the lever is preferablyformed of double thickness, by bending the material, as shown, therelatively lower leaf or portion of this double formation being extendedin rear of the offset portion 18 and rolled, as at 20, to receive theend bar 15 of the jaw 13, to pivotally support said lever upon said jaw.In practice assuming the parts to be in the position illustrated inFigs. 2 and 4, the jaw 13 will stand in spaced relation to and inadvance of the jaw 12, while the lever 16 will hang downward with itsengaging portion 17 projecting upward and at a slight rearwardinclination between the jaws. With the parts in this position, the edgeof the hose or other garment is entered between the jaw 12 and theengaging portion 17 of the lever 16, which latter is thereafter swungupwardly to the osition shown in Figs. 1 and 3, whereupon t e portion 17will ride upon and engage in rear of the bar 14*, thus clamping thegarment securely between the latter and the lever. In this operation theportion 17 of the lever acts in the nature of a cam to contract and bowthe jaw 13 and pull the free end of proper relative position.

said jaw through the jaw 12, whereby the cross bar 14 of the jaw 12 willrest directly against the offset portion or shoulder 18 of the lever,while the cross bar 15 of the jaw 13 will be disposed beyond the saidend 14v" of the jaw 12. This position of the parts, which is primarilydue to the approximately equal length of the jaws and the specificconstruction of the engaging lever and its mode of connection with thejaw 13, whereby the secondary jaw is bowed to pass through the rimaryjaw, insures a spring tension on said ever from the end bar 14 of thejaw 12, and, as a result of this tension and the fact that the end barlfl bears against the offset por tion 18, such tension is directlyexerted toward maintaining the lever in clamping or engaging position,establishing a self-locking action of said lever without the use ofauxiliary locking means.

It will be observed that the arms 15 of the jaw 13 are convergently benttoward the stationary or fulcrum end of said jaw, as indicated at 15',so that the latter-named portion will lie beneath lever 16 when thelatter is in engaging position, whereby the jaw 13 is caused to act as asupport to hold the free end of the lever spaced from the plate 9. Inaddition the upper or fulcrum ends of the arms are converged or curvedtoward the plate 9, while the free end of the lever is bent or curvedslightly outward to produce, when the lever is in engaging position, arecess 21 for the insertion of the nail of the forefinger permit thelatter to be inserted into the s ace between the plate 9 and the freeend of t 1e lever 1 6, by which the latter may be read ily grippedbetween the forefinger and thumb and swung to release position, thusdiscon- "necting the clas from the garment.

In Figs. 5 an 6 I have shown the applica tion of the same principle to agarment sup port designed for connecting a ladys shirtwaist and skirt tomaintain the same in The said support comprises a spring member 11consisting of a single piece of wire bent to provide substantiallyU-shaped jaws 12 and 13 The supporting plate 9 is here dispensed with;

" but the construction is otherwise the same as that disclosed in thegarment clasp before described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4,with the exceptions hereinafter noted. The

"engaging member or lever 16 here has the same self-locking function,and the lower end of the shirtwaist is designed to be clamped betweenthe jaws 12 and 13, while the handle end of the lever is centrallyslitted and the freed portion of the metal bent to provide a hook 22 toengage a loop or eye on the waist band of the skirt. The clamp will thusconnect the upper portion of the skirt with the lower portion of the.shirtwaist, preventing the skirt from sagging down and the shirtwaistfrom being drawn upward and becoming displaced. It will be observed thatin this construction also the con verging portions 15 of the arms .ofthe jaw 13 are arranged to underlie the handle end of the lever when thelatter is in engaging po sition, thus supporting the same so that theforefinger may be slipped between said arms and beneath the lever,allowing the latter to V be conveniently grasped and swung to release ornon-engaging position.

I make no claim in the present application to the broad features ofconstruction wherebyv a self-locking action of the lever is at tained,as such features are described and claimed in my prior application filedDecember 11, 1906, Serial No. 347,327, the present invention beingrestricted to the means for supporting the closed lever and providing anail or linger s ace to permit the lever to be readily grasped for anopening movement.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

A garment clasp comprising primary and secondary spring jaws, and alever pivoted to the secondary jaw and adapted to interlock with theprimary jaw to hold said jaws closed, said lever being adapted to foldin closed position over upon the secondary jaw, the free end of thelever and the said second ary jaw being relatively formed to limit theclosing movement of said lever and provide an intervening nail or fingerspace for the free engagement of the thumb or finger with said lever andits movement to a jaw-opening position.

' In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN M. SINER.

'Witnesses:

C. O. Hnvns, JOHN L. FLETCHER.

